Korg MS-20 kit unveiled

Synth connoisseurs with a geek mentality have been circuit bending electronic instruments and creating custom modifications for some time, but it’s highly unusual for a large manufacturer to offer a synth in kit form.

Yet that’s exactly what Korg has done with the launch of a kit form of its iconic monophonic analog synth, the MS-20.

Korg MS-20 kit

Korg says that “creating an instrument your own hands is the part of the true enjoyment of an analog synthesizer. The MS-20 Kit lets you obtain a real, full-sized MS-20 by assembling it yourself.”

As with the MS-20 mini launched last year, Korg’s original MS-20 engineers have overseen this project. The MS-20 kit arrives 36 years after the original instrument’s launch in 1978.

The original MS-20 used different VCF circuits depending on the date of production. Units produced in the earlier period used a filter noted for its distinctive distortion and self-oscillation, while the filter used in later units was a low-noise design with a more mellow character.

Amazingly, this new MS-20 Kit provides both filters. You can switch between the two by moving a jumper pin on the circuit board according to your taste or needs.